Mechanical System Performance: To quote the builders of The Northern Cross Observatory in Minnesota, this scope is a “brute force design.” It has simple functions, but they function very well. The mount can be moved anywhere while the drive is on with no fear of damaging the drive. The scope and mount are well balanced. The equatorial shaft allows for adjustment of the positions of the main counterweights. Also, a small counterweight is attached to the rear of the tube to allow adjustment of balance on the declination axis. The drive works flawlessly, keeping things well tracked and centered. The tube easily rotates with a well balanced and substantial rotating system. There are no slow motion devices and there is a slight amount of play in Right Ascension. This makes manual tracking of a celestial object somewhat more difficult when the drive is not on. Re-positioning an object in the eyepiece when the drive is on is somewhat difficult as well. Various screws and wing-nuts exist to adjust the location of the secondary within the tube, the tilt of the secondary and the tilt of the primary. A good finder is provided which is of good quality, flat to the edge, relatively high magnification and a limited actual field of view.

Optical Performance: As received, and without any attempt to re-collimate the scope, the performance was promising and enjoyable. On a night of unsteady seeing, from an inner city site with a Zenith Limiting Magnitude (ZULM) of 4 to my unaided eye the following were observed. Jupiter and Saturn presented much of the detail seen in an 1/6 wave-front ptv 6 inch MK67. The moons of Jupiter, however, were not resolved into tiny disks. On the other hand, in addition to Titan, 4 moons of Saturn were easily and immediately visible. Cassini was well presented. Stars did not present airy disks and diffraction rings. Instead they appeared as extended spike-balls of undulating light. The globular clusters M3 and M13 were beautiful balls of individual stars, like a handful of diamonds on a black velvet background. Many Messier galaxies and NGC non-Messier galaxies were seen. Both of the central cores of the Whirlpool galaxy and its companion were readily visible. A 13.3 magnitude star was easily visible in the beehive but no amount of magnification allowed me to see a 14th magnitude member. This may have, in part been due to humidity and to the proximity of Jupiter to the Beehive. The faint star just outside the Ring Nebula was easily visible. With averted vision, but with difficulty, the 13.9 magnitude star at the core of the Dumbell nebula was seen. Antares did not reveal its companion and the trapezium did not show its E and F members. However, both were very near the horizon in a less that optimal sky. Gamma Virginis was not resolvable at all. After a serious attempt at collimation, the following was seen on steady nights of high air moisture and a ZULM of 3.5 to 4. Two 14th magnitude stars were glimpsed at high magnifications with averted vision near kappa Leonis. Kappa Leonis was chosen because it was near a portion of the sky nearest the zenith that was least impacted by city light pollution. Jupiter presented very pleasing detail; two broad bands separated into strands with indentations and notches, other thin bands in the north polar area, a beautiful black dot of a moon’s eclipse shadow, detail within the Great Pale Spot. Cassini on Saturn, only 40 degrees above the horizon, was ribbonlike; however, neither the Encke minima or crepe ring at the ansae were visible. The moons of Jupiter were tiny balls. When stopped down to 6 inches, gamma Virginis and zeta Cancri easily showed their double/multiple nature and presented the appearance of airy disks and intersecting diffraction rings. In the case of gamma Virginis, the double appeared as two stars separated by a think black line. At full aperture, the separation of these double/multiple stars was more readily apparent but also had a more sloppy aspect.When stopped down to 6 inches, the intra and extra focal images are identical. Even at a full 10 inches, the images are nearly identical.

History of the Meade Model 1060 Research Series Newtonian. The production/sale of this telescope began in the late 1970s and was discontinued in the early 1990s. It took advantage of the desire of amateurs for larger aperture reflectors. It also was marketed to those who wanted a bit more quality in terms of optics and mechanicals than was obtained through the average light-bucket. The production and marketing of this scope was discontinued due, in large part, to the advent and popularity of the Schmidt-Cassegrain revolution, of large light-bucket dobsonians and revolutions in material sciences allowing less massive mechanicals.